Have I mentioned before that I love writing letters and receiving letters, but in old-school way? Yes, I love sending and receiving snail mails. For those very young to know, before the age of email, there was such a thing as sending mails through post office, all you have to do is prepare your letter, bring it with you to the post office and buy some stamps. Ask the post office staff how much it costs to send your letter domestically or internationally, and then paste the stamps equal to the amount it takes to send it to the recipient, on the envelope and just drop it on the box clearly labelled: domestic/local mail or international mail. There congratulations, you have posted a snail mail. Of course, unlike the hyper-speed function of email, your snail mail will take a while for your friend to receive it. In my experience, usually my letters to Japan arrive within 2 weeks and to China almost a month. But domestically, my letters usually take 2 to 3 weeks to arrive. I was surprised really that my friend in Japan received the letter I sent earlier than the letter I sent to QC. Interesting isn't it?
Through the years, my letter boxes have been filling up with a lot of letters. Usually from friends here and overseas, then acquaintances and of course most of them now are from students.
This is a picture of some of the letters I have collected through the years.
Not all of them were sent through snail mail, some of them were personally given to me. I take good care of each of these letters because I know the senders really put a lot of effort and thoughts in making/writing these compositions.
Now, I am going to show some of the best post cards I have received from my friends.
The first one below is a picture of two pandas eating bamboo contently. I used to dream of becoming a panda nurse, I think it must be a great job to interact and take care of pandas all day, to play with them, hug and carry them. You can see in the postcard that these two pandas look like they are communicating while eating, facing each other and even maybe sharing some bamboo, they must be best friends or maybe lovers. They just look so happy.
This next one is cherry blossoms tree in winter, with a number of Santa Claus under it. It evokes the feeling of childish awe. It is such a big tree and it seems like it is a pseudo-Christmas tree but its foliage is pink, and it just gives off that bright, light vibe. There are a lot of movements in the photo provided by a number of Santa Claus in their full costume, it seems like they are preparing to bring their gifts to give away and they are huddling together to reach a consensus. It feels so nice because they seem so busy, just like my family whenever we gather together for a reunion to celebrate the Noche Buena.
Ah this one is of course Oblation of UP Diliman, sent as a postcard by Romina. I love the color and how it was framed. We can see the edges of the Administration building. We can see some of the pillars of the building, proudly rising to the high-ceiling. There was this urban legend in the campus that we should not take our picture with Oble while studying, because it will mean that we will graduate late. So I spent my whole college life avoiding going near Oble, I learned to admire him from afar. Tip: the best view of him are from (1) the vast patch of green near College of Mass Communication and (2) from the sunflower garden along the acad oval. But now, no more avoiding, I can have my picture taken with him anytime, I have my Sablay already.
This one below is a nice cut-out post card sent by Steph. She chose well. I love it. But I didn't have the heart to cut it because I just love looking at it. The best part of it is its material, it is an artificial suede fabric on the other side and a laminated smooth cardboard on the other. From time to time, I just like touching it.
Lastly, this one below is a nicely shaped postcard from Tokyo. I love the angular feel of this structure. And the color combination. It feels like it is strictly symmetrical. Balanced, however it also feels too rigid and suffocating. Also, the hard and angular lines that we can see all over this structure makes it feel so solid and sturdy.
Hopefully, I can make another post about favorite cards given to me by my friends and students. Maybe next time I will make time for it, but anyways, thanks for reading and see you again.
